


Dearly Beloved

by LordValeryMimes



Category: Red Dwarf
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 10:11:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4824980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordValeryMimes/pseuds/LordValeryMimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A loving moment is shared between High Lister and High Rimmer, but their love will always be bittersweet.</p><p>A reimagining of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4022743">Beloved</a> by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Janamelie/pseuds/Janamelie">Janamelie</a>. Written for the <a href="http://rdficfest.tumblr.com/">Red Dwarf Fic Remix Fest</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Dearly Beloved

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Beloved](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4022743) by [Janamelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janamelie/pseuds/Janamelie). 



> Thanks to Rob Grant and Doug Naylor for creating these characters so I could make them get up to all sorts of smeg together.

The air seemed to pulse and shimmer as strains of exquisite music wove their way through the bunk room in rhythmic waves. Rimmer squeezed his eyes shut in concentration as the song seemed to pour directly from his soul, and into his slender fingertips which plucked at the strings of the mandolin in his lap. The song had no words, but the melody seemed to speak nonetheless, of warmth, love, and a sadness that was almost joyful. 

As the last few strummed chords dissolved into the still air, the hologramatic instrument vanished along with it, and Rimmer clasped his hands before him.

“Thy music speaks to my very soul, brother,” a gentle voice murmured.

“As thy soul speaks to mine, my brother,” Rimmer’s eyes were wistful and his features soft as he gazed at his companion.

“Come and sit with me a while, brother.” Lister’s face peered out from behind the gauzy curtains of the lower bunk as he patted at the mattress beside him. “Too long has it been since I’ve been able to feast my eyes upon thine beauteous features.”

Rimmer bowed his head reverently as he stood, and glided soundlessly over to the bunk where he sat beside Lister.

“My beautiful, beautiful brother.” Lister reached up a hand and held it along the edge of Rimmer’s face. Rimmer closed his eyes and could almost feel the phantom pressure of Lister’s fingers, as they skirted along his hologramatic projection.

“Any beauty I might possess, is merely the outward reflection of our love, brother. Without thy love, I would be nothing.”

“Speak not of thyself with such words, brother.” Lister hovered a finger in front of Rimmer’s lips, his brown eyes warm and playful. “In the whole of the universe, I’ve encountered naught which could eclipse thy beauty.”

“A thousand apologies, my brother. Sometimes I do forget myself. My love for thee is as great as a towering mountain, and its shadow does sometimes darken my path to enlightenment.”

“Nay brother, sometimes it is only in darkness where one can truly find oneself. Lights.” At the sound of Lister’s voice, immediately the lights in the room dimmed, to a soft honey glow. Lister raised his other hand, and curled his fingers lovingly around the edges of Rimmer’s projection.

Although he couldn’t feel Lister’s touch, any more than Lister could feel him, Rimmer shivered as an incredible warmth flooded through him. He gazed silently into Lister’s brown eyes, as hands that couldn’t, and never would feel him, still attempted to make their love known. 

“How I wish that I could touch thee brother,” Lister’s voice quavered with emotion as he attempted to thread his fingers through Rimmer’s in vain. The two men did their best to match up their positions, shifting their fingers until it gave the illusion that their hands were clasped.

“I am glad that I cannot touch you, brother.” Rimmer whispered as he gazed down at his fingers, as they hovered around and through Lister’s. 

“You cannot mean that my dearest one,” Lister looked hurt as he shifted himself closer to Rimmer, the bottom of his long robes gathering around him in shimmery waves.

Rimmer’s eyes shone as he leaned in towards Lister. “If I were able to touch thee, brother, never again would I play songs, nor would I recite poetry. Nor would I have the discipline to meditate and devote myself to reaching further enlightenment. Nay, brother. Were I able to touch thee, all my higher purposes would be abandoned. Thou would consume my every waking moment, and intellectual fulfillment would be but a memory to me.”

Lister beamed up at him with loving eyes, and Rimmer’s heart throbbed in his chest. “My greatest love, if thou cannot touch me, than in my stead, I wish thee to touch thyself.” Lister stretched his arms out in supplication. “Touch thyself brother, as thou would touch me.”

“Anything to please thee, my darling brother.” Rimmer stood and began to slip his hologramatic robe from his shoulders. He let it drop slowly, the white satin gradually revealing the naked flesh underneath until it pooled at his feet before disappearing. Lister’s eyes focused on him so intently that Rimmer shivered under the gaze. “Would that thee would do the same for me, my love,” Rimmer asked, his voice trembling. His eyes latched onto Lister’s as his lover rose from the bunk, his head bowed benevolently.

“As thou are to me, so shall I be to thee, my brother.” Lister smiled as he shrugged gracefully out of his own robe, the satin gathering in an elegant pile beneath him. 

The two men stood in silence, an arm’s-length apart from one another and their eyes unblinking. Rimmer reached up a hand to his face, and entwined his fingers through the curls of his hair. Lister emitted a soft sigh of pleasure, and mirrored the action with his own hand. Rimmer let his hand fall down the side of his face, trailing his thumb down across his lips, and Lister moaned as he mimicked every movement, his own thumb running down his lower lip.

They continued in this fashion, Rimmer’s hands gradually working their way down his chest and stomach, and Lister’s following in kind. As their hands dropped lower, their movements became more concentrated and deliberate. They found themselves pulled together like magnets, and as they moved closer, their actions synched up seamlessly as their skins began to overlap. The two men fell to the bed, a tangle of intersecting flesh and hologramatic limbs as they brought themselves to exquisite ecstasy.

“Oh my brother,” gasped Lister. “My darling brother, how I love thee.”

Rimmer began to tremble as sensation and emotion overwhelmed him entirely. “Oh my dearest. My love for thee is timeless, endless, and boundless.” He cried out as their mirrored actions began to build towards a dizzying crescendo. “My heart is thine for eternity my love.”

“And mine is thine until beyond eternity, my love,” Lister cried out between moans of desire. “My love for thee is like an uncrossable sea, and all that I wish is to be adrift on its waves.”

Lost in the moment, a stream of loving professions bounced back and forth between the two men, like the shuttlecock in a game of badminton.

“My love shall burn longer than the sun!”

“My love is as the sands of time that pour endlessly!”

“My love is as infinite as the cosmos!”

“My love is a burning fire that cannot be quenched!”

As Rimmer began to lose control, his senses began to desert him, “My love is a desert and… Oh my love… Oh… And… I am so… Thou art an oasis and I am… I am so...” Rimmer gritted his teeth before hissing out, “Thirsty!” in a pained voice as his climax rocked through him. Lister could only scream in answer as he reached his own zenith of ecstasy before falling forward into Rimmer’s projection. For several moments, they lay together, Lister completely enveloped in Rimmer’s hologramatic form, until their labored breathing began to subside.

Lister’s curly head popped out from Rimmer’s projection as he raised himself on an elbow, the silver crescent on his head shining gold in the dim light. “My love is a desert, and thou art an oasis? And I am so thirsty?” He flashed a dazzling smile at Rimmer, and the hologram laughed gently.

“I do apologize, my brother. My senses do tend to take their leave of me at times. My passion for thee leaves me the simplest of creatures.”

“It is only in simplicity where one can find the purest of truths,” Lister whispered as he shifted himself closer to the bunk wall, breaking the illusion that the two men were one. “It is only in these moments, that I truly feel at peace. I do so love thee, brother Rimmer.”

“And I thee, Brother Lister.” Rimmer sighed in contentment as he rolled onto his side, unconsciously spooning his hologramatic form around Lister. 

Lister was already beginning to settle into a gentle sleep, and Rimmer smiled as his eyes trailed over his lover’s peaceful face. Without thinking, he reached to stroke Lister’s cheek, and couldn’t hold back a whimper of pain when he remembered. He bit down on his lip as he fought to control the surge of disappointment, agony, and despair that roiled through him. He turned away from Lister and deliberately slowed his simulated breathing, focusing on that, as he struggled to push the negative thoughts from his mind. After several minutes of focused meditation, he was finally able to slip into a discontented slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to explore the Highs being physical with one another, in a slightly different way. I also was attempting to personalize the Highs a little bit more, and bring back some of their character traits. I tried to make Rimmer a bit insecure, tried to make Lister a bit cheeky. I always thought that the Highs as they were presented on the show, seemed to be a bit too interchangeable. 
> 
> Flowery language is also hard, and very, very silly.


End file.
